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By MI6 Staff

How does it feel to be President Kennedy's favorite mystery
thriller writer? "It's quite flattering," says author
Ian Fleming, whose melodramatic adventures of British secret
agent James Bond have sold millions of books throughout the world.
Fleming, who at 54 is a somewhat older version of his suave fictional
hero, was sitting outside the tiny Turkish railroad station of
Yarimburgaz, where recently a British film company was shooting
the latest James Bond movie, "From Russia, With Love." The
author had come down from
London to watch. He brushed lank gray
hair from his eyes and smile creased his ruddy face as he recalled
his only meeting with President Kennedy.

MET IN WASHINGTON

"It was six months before the 1960
election and I was introduced to them as they walked along
a Washington street. Both Mr. Kennedy and Jackie asked
me, 'Are you THE Ian Fleming?’ "That's music
to any writer's ears." The President recently placed
Fleming's "From Russia. With Love", a spy thriller
that starts in Istanbul and goes behind the Iron Curtain,
on a list of books he has most enjoyed reading. Fleming
said he has not seen Kennedy since, but sends him autographed
copies of each new Bond book. "It's the least I can
do," he added. How did he start the James Bond books?
Fleming was foreign manager (he prefers manager to editor)
of the Sunday Times of London when he began the series
in 1952. He drew on his own experiences in British naval
intelligence in World War Two. "I was about to be
married after 43 years of bachelorhood and it had been
a momentous decision for me," he said, then quipping: "I
suppose I needed a diversion to get over the shock."

FIRST BOOK ON HONEYMOON

He wrote his first book in Jamaica on his
honeymoon. In all, he has written a dozen books at his Jamaica
retreat. He smiled and continued telling about his writing
habits. "I never look back when I'm writing," he
said.

Above: Ian Fleming on location
with 'From Russia With Love' in Turkey.

"That's good
advice for young writers. If you start correcting and revising
the previous day's work, you waste another day. I revise only
after I've finished the book."' He said it takes him about
six weeks to write the first draft, turning out about 2,000 words
a day in two stints—from 10 a.m. to about noon and from
6 to 7 p. m. Has his books' success changed his life? "Surprisingly
little," says Fleming. He said he still contributes a piece
to the Sunday Times now and then and continues to make his home
in England. He admits if it weren't for the high British income
tax he'd be a millionaire today. Fleming writes lovingly and
knowingly of gambling and good eating in the Bond stories and
admits he, like his hero, likes to gamble. But as for being a
gourmet "I'd as soon eat scrambled eggs." He says people
like to read about exotic foods and he continues to write about
them.’

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